During the writing of our book, How Client's Buy, Tom McMakin's team at Profitable Ideas Exchange interviewed over two dozen professionals working in a wide range of professional services including law, accounting, investment banking, commercial real estate, and management consulting (strategy, advertising, and HR).  While most of those we spoke with were seasoned rainmakers in their [...]

I want to give you all a quick update on the book project that Tom McMakin and I are working on this summer.  First off, the current title of the book is: How Clients Buy - A Practical Guide to Business Development in Consulting and Professional Services.  The current title has evolved from our original [...]

In my previous series of posts, I layed out the obstacles of selling consulting and professional services that our book hopes to help us resolve: Part 1: The Obstacles We're Trained to Do The Work, Not Sell the Work Selling A Services is Different (and much harder) than Selling Things Nobody Wants to be a Salesperson It's [...]

This brings us to our fifth and final obstacle (the list is surely much longer, but we need to get on with the solution, right?):  Obstacle #5 - Everything You've Ever Been Taught About Sales Is Wrong. By this point, we're well versed in the fact that universities do not teach 'sales', and most of [...]

Moving right along through our list of the obstacles, we arrive at Obstacle #4: It's Harder Than Ever To Sell Professional Services.  OK, maybe you're skeptical.  You may ask, "Really, harder than ever?"  I promise, it's not intended as hyperbole.  Not that anyone's feeling sorry for attorneys, accountants, and marketing consultants making six-figure salaries, but let's dissect this [...]

Picking up where we left off on our list of obstacles in selling consulting and professional services: Obstacle #3- Nobody Wants to be a Salesperson OK, maybe somebody started out their career wanting to be a salesperson, but I haven't found that someone yet.  When you ask a kid, "What do you want to be when you [...]

Tom McMakin and I met last week with our publisher and nailed down a title for the book:  Selling Consulting and Professional Services: Understanding and Influencing The Client's Buying Journey.  Our book is divided into 4 parts.  The first part lays out the 'problem' or obstacles we face in selling consulting and professional services.  In [...]

As many of you know, Tom McMakin and I are writing a book that will be published by John Wiley & Sons in 2018.  The working title of the book is Getting Started in Business Development: How to Build Relationships and Sell Professional Services, Consulting and Expertise.  The title of the book will change; in fact, we're [...]

Dear friends, students, clients and colleagues: I'm very excited to announce that Tom McMakin (CEO of Profitable Ideas Exchange) and I have signed a book contract with John Wiley & Sons.  Our book's working title is Getting Started in Business Development: How to Build Relationships and Sell Professional Services, Consulting and Expertise. Writing a business [...]